Abstract: The subject of this research is the analysis of didactic works used in the late XVIII — early XIX centuries in the educational process of the first Russian institutes for women — the Educational Society of Noble Maidens and School of the Order of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg. The new secular upbringing and education – one of the core ideas of the European Enlightenment, at that time was perceived in Russia as a state task, which required the establishment of closed educational institutions, such as cadet corps and institutes for women. The primary method for distribution of pedagogical ideas was moralizing literature of the Western European educators, which were translated into the Russian language and became available for the audience; and the second half of the XVIII century marks the emergence of publications of the Russian authors. This article is first to follow the sequence of changes of textbooks and “books for reading” selected for the students of the Educational Society of Noble Maidens and School of the Order of St. Catherine in St. Petersburg using hermeneutic method, as well as conduct their historical-comparative analysis based on the principle of historicism. The translated works of the Western European educators were replaced by the curriculum specifically created for the Russian female students at the request of the Empress Maria Feodorovna, which included the advanced ideas of both Western and national educators. It was another step in a difficult path towards establishment of the national pedagogical system.

Abstract: The article examines the contribution of the Minister of National Education S. S. Uvarov to the development of women's education which was part of the Russian education system. With Uvarov's participation, new educational institutions were being established in the western governorates, where there was basically no Russian school for girls, based on the model of the closed institutions set up by the Vedomstvo of Empress Maria. Heading the education board of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens for nearly one and a half decades, Uvarov used this institution as a model for others and carried out a number of changes aimed at improving both the educational process and its regulation. The methodological basis of this study is the principle of historicism and the historical-biographical method, which allowed the author to analyze the formation of women's institutional education in the context of public policy. The article demonstrates how, in accordance with the general direction of the ministry’s educational policy, most closed women's institutions, as well as men's educational institutions, went through a renewal of personnel structure starting from the late 1830s. The places of class inspectors and teachers were occupied by professionally trained specialists, often undergoing internships abroad. The author concludes that the work of S. S. Uvarov contributed to the significant improvement in the development of training in women's institutions.